Facade panel and building facade

ABSTRACT

With a façade panel, with a front and a rear that can be aligned to a building, and with edges running vertically and horizontally, limiting the façade panel, the invention proposes with recesses arranged on a line running vertically, whereby the line runs parallel to a vertical edge of the façade panel on the rear.

The invention relates to a façade panel according to the preamble ofclaim 1 and a building façade according to the preamble of claim 6.

Building façades and the corresponding façade panels are known frompractice. The majority of façade panels are embodied in a rectangularmanner, thus provided with edges running exclusively horizontally andvertically. The joint-aligned alignment of the façade panel, i.e., withaligned joints and always the same joint width, can often be ensuredonly with great mechanical effort, since the associated mountingconstruction by means of which the façade panels are held onto thebuilding usually allows a certain mobility and free positioningcapability of the respective façade panel in its provided installationsite for equalizing tolerances. Joint profiles are therefore often used,i.e., extruded profiles of metal or plastic which are inserted in thejoints. A joint running smoothly between the façade panels is ensured byplacing the adjacent façade panels against this joint profile. However,the architects' freedom of design in the embodiment of the buildingfaçade is adversely affected by this.

The object of the invention is to disclose a façade panel and a buildingfaçade which respectively render possible an exact joint course betweenthe individual façade panels with as great as possible freedom of designof the façade.

This object is attained through a façade panel with the features ofclaim 1 and through a building façade with the features of claim 6.

In other words, the invention proposes creating an “invisible” guidesystem, i.e., provided on the rear of the façade panel, which renderspossible the correct vertical alignment of several façade panels oneabove the other or of two laterally adjacent façade panels next to oneanother, thus ensuring the desired vertical joint courses. Since thisguide system is provided on the rear of the façade panels, no profilesprojecting into the joints are necessary which would restrict the designof the joints and thus the freedom of design of the building façade.

For the vertical alignment of the façade panel at least two recesses areprovided which are provided at a distance one above the other on therear of the façade panel and which lie on a line that runs parallel tothe lateral vertical edge of the façade panel. A vertical alignment ofthe façade panel or its lateral edge is rendered possible throughcorresponding projections which are provided on the mountingconstruction and which extend into these recesses. A vertical alignmentof the opposite lateral edge is also automatically ensured through thisso that in all a very regular and homogenous joint image can be achievedwithout auxiliary means visible from the outside. Since the mountingconstruction, normally a metallic support construction, can be producedwith great precision, the attachment of such projections to the mountingconstruction can also be made with great precision so that a correct andexact positioning of the individual façade panels is possible by meansof the projections, while the actual attachment method of the façadepanels to the mounting construction still provides a certain mobility ofthe attachment elements for equalizing tolerances which makes itpossible to align the attachment elements according to the specificconditions of the façade panels.

In order to be able to compensate for irregularities than can occurduring the production process of the façade panels, it can preferably beprovided not to make the recesses in the façade panel until afterwards,thus at the end of the actual production process. For example, if thefaçade panels are made of clay or a similar material which is fired forhardening, influencing the geometry of these façade panels through thefiring process cannot be ruled out. If the recesses are not made in therear of the façade panel until after the firing process, it can beensured that these recesses are arranged with the desired precisionwhich, together with the accurate, defined alignment of the projectionsin the area of the mounting construction, later ensures the desiredpositionally accurate arrangement of the façade panel on the building.

In particular if the façade panel is embodied as a corner panel, thusfeatures a mitered vertical corner edge, the positioning and alignmentof the façade panel according to the proposal by means of the recesseson the façade panel and the projections on the mounting constructionprovides a solution to existing problems which hitherto could be solvedat best with the aid of often undesirable joint profiles so that theembodiment according to the proposal is particularly advantageous withsuch corner panels.

The recesses can be embodied as individual bores, slotted holes or thelike. However, it can be provided particularly simply in terms ofproduction technology to combine these recesses into a through groove.This renders possible in a particularly economic manner the use ofcorresponding profiles which are attached to the mounting constructionand which feature a flank that extends into the recess of the façadepanel or several façade panels. For example, simple, commercial andeconomical L-shaped angle profiles can be used which are attached bytheir one flank to the mounting construction and extend with the otherflank into the groove-shaped recess of the façade panel. Although adesired precise lateral guidance of the façade panel is given throughthe continuous geometry of the groove which is not linked to specificpoints on the one hand and of the L-shaped angle profile on the otherhand, great scope is given in the attachment in terms of height of theangle profile or the alignment in terms of height of the façade panel,however, so that an uncomplicated and rapid mounting is supported.

In order to be able to easily absorb thermal expansions or shocks fromseismic causes, preferably only a single line provided with recesses canbe provided on the rear of the façade panel so that the façade panel canwork freely on both sides of this line under the given influences and,e.g., can expand, vibrate or the like. If the line with the recessesruns near a vertical edge, this edge is described as “provided withrecesses.” As with a component fixed on one side, this edge of thefaçade panel can be regarded as a ‘fixed bearing” whereas the oppositeedge can be seen as a “loose bearing” which, although it is attached tothe mounting construction, can work and conform to the seismic orthermal conditions due to the above-mentioned tolerances and mobilitieswith this type of attachment so that the façade panel can, e.g., expandor contract.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail onthe basis of the purely diagrammatic drawings. They show:

FIG. 1 A horizontal cross section through the corner embodiment of abuilding façade,

FIG. 2 A horizontal cross section through a column or support cladding,and

FIG. 3 A second exemplary embodiment of a corner embodiment of a façadeconstruction.

In the drawings 1 respectively designates a façade panel which isattached to a mounting construction labeled as a whole with 2, wherebythe mounting construction 2 in turn is attached to a building that isnot shown for reasons of clarity.

In FIG. 1 the mounting construction 2 features an angle bracket 3attached to the building. A hollow profile 4 with a roughly square crosssection extends from the angle bracket 3, whereby this hollow profile 4can be formed by a single or two separate, approximately Z-shapedprofiles. The hollow profile 4 can be embodied as a continuous extrudedprofile or as a plurality of supports arranged spaced one above theother which respectively feature only a limited height of, e.g., 5 cm or10 cm. A spacer profile arrangement is labeled as a whole with 5. Aspacer profile with damping material properties, e.g., of EPDM, is usedin a manner known per se for the vibration-damping mounting of thefaçade panel 1 to the remaining mounting construction 2.

Attachment elements 10 are provided on the hollow profile, whichattachment elements can be seen in particular from FIGS. 2 and 3 andwhich hold the façade panels 1 in a manner known per se. They areembodied, e.g., as J-shaped or U-shaped holders which wrap around thefaçade edges, in that they extend, e.g., under the façade panel 1 andengage in a groove running on the panel lower edge.

In addition, an L-shaped angular profile 6 is provided on the mountingconstruction 2 which on the one hand is attached to the mountingconstruction 2 and which on the other hand extends with both ends of itstwo flanks into respectively one groove 7 of respectively one façadepanel 1 so that these two adjacent façade panels 1 embody between them adefined joint of equal width over the entire height of the façade panel1.

If the angular profile 6 also extends over the height of the façadepanel 1 shown to the next higher façade panel or that arranged under it,the aligned alignment of the joints of façade panels 1 arranged oneabove the other is ensured by this construction.

FIG. 2 shows that the façade panels 1 can be embodied not only on onevertical edge as corner panel, thus that not only one vertical edge ismitered as a corner edge; instead in the case of small-sized façades,such as, e.g., the cladding of a support construction, it can beprovided that one or more of the façade panels used forms corner edgeson both opposite vertical edges.

With the center façade panel 1 shown in FIG. 1, it is furthermoreprovided that the groove does not run closely adjacent to a certaincorner edge, but the groove 7 runs at the center of the façade panel 1so that in the case of changes in the geometry of the façade panel 1,e.g., due to thermal influences, an identical change of the joint widthwill occur on both joints of the façade panel 1 and thus an identicaljoint image is achieved. In contrast, the two façade panels 1 shown atthe side in FIG. 1 are provided with a groove 7 near a single edge, asshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a corner embodiment of thebuilding façade with a mounting construction 2 embodied differentlycompared to FIG. 1, which construction, i.a., features a mounting angle8 starting from which an arm 9 with multiple offsets extends which inturn supports the two façade panels 1.

1. Façade panel with a front and a rear that can be aligned to abuilding, and with edges running vertically and horizontally, limitingthe façade panel, characterized by recesses arranged on a line runningvertically, whereby the line runs parallel to a vertical edge of thefaçade panel on the rear.
 2. Façade panel according to claim 1,characterized in that the line runs closely adjacent to a vertical edge.3. Façade panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the façadepanel is embodied as a corner panel and features a mitered verticalcorner edge.
 4. Façade panel according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe recesses are combined into a through groove.
 5. Façade panelaccording to claim 2, characterized in that the edge opposite the edgeprovided with recesses is free of such recesses.
 6. Building façade withfaçade panels and with a mounting construction for attaching the façadepanels to the building, characterized in that two horizontally adjacentfaçade panels parallel to their two vertical adjacent edges featurerecesses on the rear sides directed towards the building, whereby therecesses are respectively arranged on a line that runs parallel to avertical edge of the respective façade panel, and whereby projectionsare provided on the mounting construction, which projections extend intothe recesses such that the façade panels are aligned exactly parallel toone another.
 7. Building façade according to claim 6, characterized by afaçade panel with a front and a rear that can be aligned to a building,and with edges running vertically and horizontally, limiting the façadepanel, characterized by recesses arranged on a line running vertically,whereby the line runs parallel to a vertical edge of the façade panel onthe rear.
 8. Building façade according to claim 6, characterized in thatthe projections extend loosely into the recesses.
 9. Building façadeaccording to claim 6, characterized by an angular profile which isattached by a first flank to the mounting construction and extends witha second flank into the recesses of the façade panel embodied as agroove.